Is US Basic Research in Biomedicine Still No.1? (September 28, 2012)

Sidney Altman along with Thomas Cech was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA".

The September 28, 2012 issue of Science includes the following letter from Professor Altman:

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U.S. Basic Research: Still Number One?

In his Editorial “NIH Basics” (3 August, p. 503), F. S. Collins cites several impressive research accomplishments to exemplify the outstanding benefits of support for basic research. It would be valuable to know when these research achievements occurred and what the level of basic research funding was at those times. In addition, a graph of the amount of funding for translational research compared with basic research over the past three decades would illustrate the overall and unusual shift in U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds.

During the senior Bush presidential era, I had the privilege of testifying to a House committee on NIH and National Science Foundation funding. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked pointedly whether the United States was still number one with respect to its basic research position in the world. I answered yes. However, other nations are increasing their basic research funding. If asked the question again today, the rapid movement by NIH to translational funding might require me to change my answer.

Sidney Altman

Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.